QUIGYAT (WITH BORDA)

For the year 2024 Italian voice artist Claudio Milano's "Nichelodeon" project offers a new five-piece work "Quigyat" . "According to the Greenland Inuit, the "Quigyat" auroras were the spirits of children who died a violent death or on their birthday" is stated in album's liner notes, and even without knowledge of Italian the listener can easily feel the sadness, anxiety and dark beauty in music. Songs' titles like "Little Symphony for Frozen Soldiers" and "Requiem in Defense of Children's Rights" tell it all too. But even if the whole work is as eclectic as always with any Milano work, there are not only dark colors or concern in it.

The trio of Milano, pianist Francesca Badalini and fret-less bassist Andrea Grumelli on this album for the first time collaborates with percussionist/ live electronics artist Teo "Borda" Ravelli. Being eclectic, "Quigyat" is less quirky then many other Milano works. The vinyl space limitation dictates extremely accessible (for Milano music) release size - less then 40 minutes in total. It's not a secret, that many previous Milano works were far not easy accessible even for his followers since they contained extremely eclectic and complex form material, offered in a size of two or three hours long.

"Quigyat" is more accessible and it shows that smaller doze is sometimes a better solution. Still, the material here isn't what newcomer can easily imagine. Milano offers his usual voice theater, mixing musical genres from singing poetry to tango, to analog electronics and quite bare-naked piano-fretless bass Italian prog.

I really like here minimalist take on a chosen material with highlighted bass line, a bit flat piano sound and in whole very theatrical atmosphere. For my ear, "Quigyat" is one among more successful Milano works and can be recommended for open ear newbie, interested in testing what Claudio Milano music is too.